Fifty Shades of Grey: Surge in adventurous shoppers looking for sex toys, lingerie and bondage gear February 5, 2015 Retailers are preparing for a surge in sales of lingerie, sex toys and bondage gear as the saucy film Fifty Shades of Grey hits cinema screens. The hotly-anticipated film adaptation of the best-selling erotic book by E.L James, timed for release over the Valentine's Day weekend, is spurring retailers to stock up on titillating products [...]
Focus on Beckenham: Rising London house prices make this a south east hotspot January 29, 2015 Moving out to the sticks to start a family is hardly a new phenomenon, but the rapid rise of inner city house prices means more people are re-evaluating where the sticks start and the rat race begins. As a result, areas like Beckenham, once the preserve of the affluent suburban family, are starting to appeal [...]
Chateau Gütsch: Journey to Lucerne, the ticking heart of watchmaking January 11, 2015 Overlooking Lucerne, Chateau Gütsch is a belle-epoque retreat with a horological secret. As a writer with a particular penchant for Swiss watchmaking, I probably use the term “chocolate box” far too frequently. Hard not to when describing a springtime visit to an atelier nestled in the verdant Jura foothills, surrounded by cows and their clanking [...]
Earls Court exhibition centre demolished: Is London losing too much of its heritage? December 22, 2014 It has played host to chocolate & confectionary fairs, royal tournaments, Victoria’s Secret fashion shows and hundreds of performers, including Pink Floyd, Queen, Madonna and Oasis. But this month marks the end of an era for the Earls Court Exhibition Centre, after contractors began dismantling the 1930s Art Deco building to make way for one [...]
Hedgies high on the hog at Hedge Brunch’s Avenue summer bash July 31, 2014 St James's Street played host to a hoard of hedgies last night, as Hedge Brunch threw its summer soirée at Avenue restaurant. Founder of LNG Capital Louis Gargour was there, chatting to Alcova’s Russell Hart and Tom Pontin. “When Gus [Morison – HedgeBrunch founder] told me he was getting out of the industry to [...]
The man with a plan for your retirement May 5, 2014 The former Barclays banker turned insurance group chief executive thinks he’s found a new direction for LV= WHEN Mike Rogers first heard about chancellor George Osborne’s plans to scrap compulsory annuities, the LV= chief executive was on a train back to London. “I’d been to Bristol for lunch with some of the top performers from [...]
Down to a Fine Art March 23, 2014 Annabel Palmer talks to Patrick van der Vorst, the ex-Sotheby’s art expert who used a £100,000 investment from Dragons Den to build online valuation service Value My Stuff THE INTERNATIONAL art market is having a ball, as investors flock to the perceived safer asset. A Sotheby’s sale last month totalled £163m, with demand coming from [...]
Bitcoin bounces back above $1,000 after this new endorsement January 6, 2014 Bitcoin has bounced back across the $1,000 (£610) mark in the wake of the announcement that social game company Zynga would accept the virtual currency for some of its services. Players of games such as FarmVille 2 and CastleVille will now be able to use Bitpay, a Bitcoin payment provider to make in-game purchases. Zynga [...]
Inside Africa’s megacity: God, oil, and traffic chaos in Lagos November 29, 2013 From the Nollywood film industry to shanty-dwellers with a line in tech imports, Nigeria’s biggest city reveals its secrets to Alex Dymoke NO ONE knows quite how many people live in Lagos. Nigeria’s 2006 census put the official figure at just under 8m. The UN estimated the number for 2011 at 11.2m. Others say it’s [...]
Retail demand on the rise says Hammerson November 12, 2013 BRITISH and overseas retailers in search of bigger stores are driving demand across Hammerson’s shopping centres and retail parks, the property group’s chief executive said yesterday. The owner of Brent Cross shopping centre said tenant sales were flat in the third quarter to 30 September while occupancy – though marginally down – remained around its [...]